Woman’s body found in buffer zone between north and south Cyprus, 32-year-old Egyptian national arrested

A woman's body was found in the buffer zone between the villages of Akıncılar and Kiracıköy in north and south Cyprus on Tuesday.

The body was found at 11:00am on Tuesday in a shallow grave in a field. Greek Cypriot police said they were investigating premeditated murder.

While the identity of the woman has not been determined yet, it is believed to be that of a foreign national.

A 32-year-old Egyptian national was arrested on suspicion of premediated murder, following witness testimony against him.

Nicosia police and UN officers secluded the scene for investigation.

According to report by Greek Cypriot media, the body was found when a farmer ploughed the field late on Sunday. However, he did not notice the woman, but police received information from a third person concerning the body. After police found the body, they alerted the farmer of the discovery.

The farmer said the body was dragged several meters during works to cultivate the field. “We saw something, a black material, we did not realise what it was,” he said.

He said it seems the body must have been transferred there recently judging by footprints visible from a nearby field leading to where the body had initially been.

The woman was buried in a makeshift grave and wrapped in plastic bags, reports added.

According to report, it seems the murder took place months ago elsewhere and the body was recently transferred and buried where it was found on Tuesday.

A postmortem, to be completed at a later stage, is expected to reveal the exact cause of her death.